


A Shot At Something

by viennajones



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Theatre, Christmas Party, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 14:31:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1107981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viennajones/pseuds/viennajones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there is one thing Gwaine always picks up on, it's a chance to get laid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Shot At Something

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bunnysworld](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/gifts).



> A massive thank you to vix_spes for being a star and doing some last minute beta work. Also thanks to the mods for hosting this fest :) 
> 
> Happy Holidays, bunnysworld. <3 I hope you enjoy this!

“Percy is really fucking fit. I mean, you have seen his arms, right?” Merlin said wistfully as he downed the remaining whiskey in his glass, ice cubes clinking together when he set it back down on the counter.

Gwaine nearly dropped the bottle of rum he’d just taken off the shelf behind the bar and tightened his hold around it once he’d caught it with his left hand. The look he gave Merlin was probably horrified, because Merlin was laughing at him now, his eyes turning into little half-moons in the process.

“Don’t worry, Gwaine. Luckily for you, it’s not him I’m after,” he said, holding out his glass for a refill. Gwaine regained his wits and control of his tongue while he exchanged the bottle of rum for whiskey and poured the clear, amber liquid into Merlin’s tumbler.

“Well then, why are you hanging out with me right now, Merlin? You should stop bothering me with your nonsensical drunken babbling. Go find Arthur, shoo!” Gwaine said, gesturing in the general direction of the wide open doors which led from the bar into the auditorium, where the Albion Theatre’s Christmas party was in full swing.

“I’m not a bird, Gwaine. You can’t shoo me away,” Merlin said, amusement still plastered all over his stupid face, but he took his drink, slid off the bar stool he’d been occupying for the past 30 minutes and left, shaking his bony hips to the sound of Jingle Bells. Gwaine laughed as he bumped into Arthur, lost his balance and would’ve gone down in a spectacular fashion had Arthur, ever the knight in shining armour, not caught his arm and steadied him in time.

“Jesus,” Gwaine muttered under his breath at the way Merlin’s eyes lit up like bloody Christmas lights when he saw who’d saved him and wondered why Merlin had brought up Percy’s arms at all when it was painfully obvious he’d rather be firmly locked in Arthur’s.

Gwaine stepped out from behind the bar and scanned the scene. Gwen, Lance and Vivian had been dancing madly to the past three songs regardless of what tempo they were in and he could see Elyan sneaking up to where Leon and Morgana were sitting with a branch of mistletoe hidden behind his back. Gwaine couldn’t imagine that ending well. Everyone seemed to be having a blast, even Mordred, probably because he hadn’t noticed that Mithian and Freya were fighting with a couple of swords they’d definitely stolen from the props department.

Nobody seemed interested in getting another drink for the moment. Gwaine hesitated for a second because he hated leaving his bar unsupervised in the hands of amateurs, but he really needed a smoke. He’d just have to risk it.

He went and grabbed his coat from the crew room, checking the pockets to see if he actually still had that second pack, before he exited through the stage door. He was met by an icy wind, snowflakes twirling through the empty back alley and remembered that he really needed to buy gloves as he quickly lit up a cigarette and shoved his hands back into their pockets.

He’d just started to relax a little when the door opened again and somebody stumbled out, slipped on the icy pavement and fell down with a string of curses and a tangle of blonde curly hair. Gwaine was too slow to react (and this was why he didn’t get nice things, because he wasn’t all knightly and heroic the way Arthur managed to be) so all he could do was blink at Elena who was lying at his feet.

“Ouch, bloody hell, fuck,” she said eloquently and Gwaine at least managed the courtesy of extending his hand to help her up.

“You okay?” He asked, as Elena rubbed her tailbone and winced.

“Well, it’s probably going to bruise. When you’re as clumsy as I am though, you’re used to it,” she said and shrugged. Elena truly was a walking disaster, especially as an usher, but she made up for the countless times she’d tripped over somebody’s leg with her friendly smile that made it hard for anybody to stay mad at her for long.

“Can I have one?” She asked, pointing at the cigarette and Gwaine nodded, offering her the pack and lighting the cigarette once she’d taken it. She closed her eyes and looked a little too blissed out when she took the first drag.

“I’ve been trying to quit,” she admitted and Gwaine raised his eyebrow, “so don’t tell anyone, yeah? Especially not Percy. He always gives me the silent treatment when I do something stupid.”

“Far be it from me to judge anybody for their demons, I know I have plenty of my own,” Gwaine said with a half-hearted grin. The fact that Percy was a solid guy with a functioning moral compass who had his life together was just one of the reasons for which Gwaine preferred not to think about his arms or his abs or about how it would be to suck his dick.

“Guess we all do,” Elena said.

They finished their smokes in silence and when Elena started shivering, Gwaine pulled her back inside and made her a terribly pink drink with three cocktail cherries instead of just one.

* * *

A couple of hours later, he was running low on cherries and Elena was a little too drunk to go anywhere without falling down again. Gwaine wasn’t much better off but assumed that he had more experience at navigating the theatre in this state, so he got Elena to her cab.

“You’re a darrrling,” Elena giggled as she hugged him goodbye and ruffled his hair which Gwaine wouldn’t have allowed under different circumstances because his hair? Nobody got to touch it unless they were also naked and in Gwaine’s bed.

“Percy is so lucky,” she added and let herself flop down into the back seat, wincing because she’d obviously forgotten about her bruised tailbone.

“Right,” Gwaine said a little confused, but before he could ask what she’d meant by that, she shut the door and the cab was gone.

When he got back inside he realised that most people had gone home. It was well past midnight already so it wasn’t really that surprising, but he wasn’t in the mood to leave just yet. The music was still playing which meant that Gilli had to be around somewhere, not that Gwaine was terribly interested in talking to him.

He swung by the bar to grab the almost empty bottle of whiskey he’d left there before he walked up towards the front rows and sat down in one of the seats. The stage curtain was a deep midnight blue, the thick fabric laced with a glittering silver thread. It always bothered Gwaine because he’d grown up believing that all theatre curtains in the world were red. Perhaps it was the whiskey, but tonight he liked the way the cloth sparkled discreetly.

“Hey,” somebody said next to him. Gwaine had to let his head fall back to see Percival’s face.

“Have you seen Ellie?” He asked and Gwaine nodded.

“Okay. Um, where is she, then?” Percy asked, frowning slightly.

“She took a cab home. Sorry mate, my brain’s a little sluggish,” Gwaine said and grinned apologetically. He was expecting Percy to go away, but instead he sat down next to Gwaine, knocking his knuckles against the bottle Gwaine was holding onto.

“If you had all that whiskey on your own, that’s not very surprising, you know,” Percy said and Gwaine was sure that he didn’t imagine the slightly worried look on his face.

“Oh, no. I think Merlin had most of this, actually. I’m just finishing it off. It makes me like the monstrosity that is our curtain,” Gwaine laughed and offered the bottle to Percy, who shook his head but smiled.

“I like it anyway. Reminds me of the night sky, you know? I hate that you can never really see the stars in the city. Stupid light pollution,” Percy said and Gwaine laughed at that, too.

“Seriously? I never figured you were someone who cared about things like _light pollution_ ,” he said and emptied the bottle before putting it down on the floor.

“I suppose there are quite a few things you don’t know about me, Gwaine. For example, I was your secret Santa, but for some reason you weren’t around when we revealed ourselves, so I gave your gift to Morgana.”

“Whaaat?” Gwaine said and gaped at him and then he remembered that he was supposed to give someone a gift, too, and said, “Arthur! Fuck.”

It was Percy’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, you should probably call him and apologise in the morning.”

Gwaine sighed heavily and then remembered that he hadn’t gotten a gift either, so he jabbed a finger at Percy’s (incredibly firm) chest.

“I can’t believe you gave my gift to Morgana,” he said and he didn’t feel like it was beneath him to pout. He loved getting gifts, mostly because he didn’t get them often, and it was kind of sad that he’d missed out on this one.

“Sorry, mate. It was more like she claimed it, if it helps.”

“Will you at least tell me what it was?” Gwaine asked. Perhaps he’d be able to break into Morgana’s apartment and steal it back if he knew what it was. He knew there was a reason why he didn’t trust that evil gift-stealing Grinch.

“I can do better. How would you like a different gift? You’d have to keep in mind that it is improvised, though, so don’t complain if you don’t like it, okay?”

“If I don’t like it, will you tell me what the other gift was?” Gwaine asked, still hung up on the idea of breaking into Morgana’s place. She probably had an alarm system of some sort. Perhaps he’d have to blackmail Arthur to get the access code first. Everyone knew the Pendragon’s only worked at the theatre because they liked doing it – their family was loaded.

“Alright, then. Close your eyes?”

Gwaine thought Percy looked a little bit nervous now, but he could’ve been mistaken. He wasn’t actually good at reading people.

“Don’t do anything weird though, alright? I don’t want a spider on my head,” Gwaine said but he did close his eyes. As far as he was concerned, the only thing better than gifts were surprises.

Nothing happened for a couple of seconds and Gwaine felt a little stupid sitting there with his eyes closed. It didn’t sound like Percy was doing anything either, unless he was being very quiet and perhaps this was all some sort of weird joke. Percy had a peculiar humour but Gwaine thought that he was actually one of the few people who got it.

He was about to say something because he’d never been a particularly patient person, when suddenly he could feel the soft skin of someone else’s lips pressed against his. It took him a second to catch on to what was happening but when he did, he gasped and started kissing back with all he had because he didn’t know why this was happening and he wasn’t sure if it would happen again; all he knew was how fucking much he wanted it, and that he’d never admit to that.

It was a little embarrassing that he honest to god whimpered when Percy finally pulled back, a hand resting against Gwaine’s shoulder that kept him from chasing for another kiss. Gwaine opened his eyes reluctantly to the sight of Percy touching his own lips in wonder, as if he couldn’t quite believe he actually did that.

Gwaine knew he had a shot at something here (because if there was one thing he always picked up on it was a chance to get laid), so he didn’t stop to think about what he was doing before he said, “One kiss? Is that all?”

He gave Percy, who tightened his hold on Gwaine’s shoulder, a cheeky grin.

“So…you liked it?” Percy asked, so earnestly that Gwaine was tempted to say something very stupid for a second. He stopped himself in time.

Instead of saying anything, he pushed Percy’s hand off his shoulder and moved quickly so he was sitting in Percy’s lap, facing him. That seemed to be all the encouragement Percy needed, because he pulled Gwaine in close to kiss him again, his hands clasped together firmly in Gwaine’s neck to keep him locked in place, as if Gwaine could even think of going anywhere else right now.

The way Percy kissed him was disconcerting. He started out slow, nibbling at Gwaine’s lips, kissing the corner of his mouth, slowly coaxing it open and every time Gwaine tried to rush it, he tightened the hold on his neck just a little and pulled back again, began building it up again.

He kissed Gwaine like they had all the time in the world, and that was new. Gwaine was used to sloppy kisses, urgent kisses, hot kisses, but not to this fucking game that made the insides of his stomach twist in anticipation and sent shivers down his spine.

By the time Percy finally, mercifully let the kiss turn into something deep and passionate, Gwaine was pretty sure he never wanted to be kissed by anybody else ever again. He was already hard and rocking against Percy, desperate for some friction that wasn’t enough by a long shot.

“Gwaine,” Percy mumbled and bit into Gwaine’s bottom lip gently to make him stop.

“We should get out of here. Come back to mine,” Percy said with a sheepish grin that made Gwaine kiss him thoroughly one more time before he pulled away, nodding.

* * *

Gwaine woke up the next morning feeling the good kind of soreness that came from being fucked well and thoroughly. It took him a moment to figure out where he was and a quick glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand told him that it was past noon already, which explained why Percy wasn't next to him anymore.

Gwaine cursed himself under his breath for staying the night. He didn't have many rules where sex was concerned, but finding his way back to his own flat before things could get awkward was one of them.

And yet, when Percy had pulled him back into his arms and whispered "Don't go", Gwaine had inconveniently forgotten all about his rules and the fact that nobody wanted their one night stand around in the morning.

He listened carefully for a moment, trying to hear a shower or TV running, but the flat was completely silent. He could only hear the voice of Percy's upstairs neighbour who was singing a Christmas song at the top of her lungs, obviously not caring that she had very little talent for it.

Perhaps Percy had left in order to postpone any awkwardness until the next time they saw each other at work.

Gwaine sighed. Not sleeping with his co-workers was another rule he'd broken in a spectacular fashion last night. He blamed Elena, who'd enabled him to drink too much, and Morgana for stealing his original present. He even blamed Percy for being such a damn good kisser.

With a groan, Gwaine got up from the bed and opened the curtains to allow some light into the room. He found his clothes, which had been hastily discarded all over the flat last night, folded together neatly on the dresser next to the door and put them on hastily. He would've much preferred taking a shower first, but he could do that once he was home.

He definitely felt more than a little silly when he quietly opened the bedroom door and stuck his head out first to see if Percy was around after all, but the flat was empty. Gwaine resisted the urge to linger and look at details like photographs and the DVD collection which could've told him things about Percy he didn't know yet.

Instead, he made sure he had his wallet, phone and keys because he didn't fancy doing the walk of shame only to have to come back again, and left the flat, already on his phone, trying to figure out which bus he'd have to take to get to his place.

"Gwaine," someone said a few seconds too late for Gwaine to stop his quick dash down the stairs. He crashed right into Percy, who thankfully managed to catch his balance and get a hold on Gwaine without dropping the bag of groceries he was carrying.

Gwaine scrambled back, silently cursing his luck, and said, "Hi - sorry. I was just..."

"Leaving?" Percy asked and gave Gwaine a half-hearted grin as he stepped aside to let him pass. Gwaine blinked at him for a few seconds, trying to understand why he suddenly didn't want Percy to just let him go. It wasn't surprising, of course. He'd just have preferred to be gone to spare himself the way he was feeling now.

"Right," he said, angling his body sideways so he could get past Percy more easily.

"Wait," Percy said then, stopping Gwaine just as effectively as he had as a human barricade.

"I mean, if you'd like to go, you can obviously do that. But I thought that maybe if you stayed, we could have breakfast. And maybe figure out a way for this to be okay. If you'd rather not, I understand, it's just that Ellie said-" Percy stopped himself then, looking very unsure of himself.

"What did she say?" Gwaine asked softly, remembering her cryptic remark about Percy from the night before.

"That I shouldn't let you run away if I cared about you," Percy replied, wincing a little.

Gwaine didn't say anything for a long moment. He considered protesting that he wasn't running away but that seemed futile considering how Percy had found him. He also wondered when Elena had come to know him so well and then his mind got stuck on the part where Percy had sort of admitted that he cared about Gwaine.

"Breakfast sounds great," Gwaine replied.

The smile he got in return made him think that maybe, this time he had a shot at something wonderful.


End file.
